Crowds continue to increase in April as Spring Break continues through the week of Easter (April 16th). Droves of families from all over the country take this break from school as a perfect excuse to head to Disney World (as if you need an excuse!) In addition to higher crowd levels, prices spike to more peak levels. While Spring Breaks are staggered throughout the country (sometimes even within the same state), from what I’ve investigated, the week of Easter and the week following are the two most popular weeks. The week following Easter, but crowds and prices begin to fall and weather is often quite pleasant!

April weather in Disney World

According to Weather.com the average high in the month of April is 82 and the low is 58. Be sure to check your favorite weather app prior to your departure to confirm actual temperatures before you pack. This can be picture perfect weather for Disney World! Warm enough to swim during the day but not too hot that walking around the parks are unbearable! I can tell you from personal experience, the early parts of April 2014 were HOT and late April 2015 was very comfortable! April 2017 was again a bit warmer than predicted. Remember that the average of 82 meals there were days warmer and cooler but it’s pretty safe to say you’ll be happy and shorts and taking some time for the pool or a water park!

Choosing Your Travel Dates/Events to be aware of

April 1 – 22 – Spring break season concludes! It’s still generally better to travel during peak spring break vs. peak summer based on temperatures and similar crowds!

March 1 – May 29 – Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival. This doesn’t increase the overall day to day crowds in Epcot or in the resorts, however you may see an increase in crowds over the first few days of the Festival with bloggers and excited guests!

April 20-23 RunDisney – Star Wars Half Marathon: The Dark Side. This is the 2nd annual event and it’s gaining popularity with events on both coasts throughout the year! Like other RunDisney events, you won’t see a huge increase in crowds in the parks, but it will limit some resort availability.

Special Offers/Promotions

No promotional offers will be available at the time of publication. Look toward the end of 2016 or around the first of the year for promotional offers for Spring 2017 (based on historical releases). In previous years, a room discount was offered with an additional day of park tickets at no additional cost!

When to book dining

Dining reservations are available 180 days in advance of your arrival date which means you can bee dining for April can be made in early October! If you have an active package, you’ll have the ability to book dining for your entire length of stay. If you’re inside that mark, you may not see every dining reservation available – especially popular things like character dinners (especially Cinderella’s Table, and Chef Mickey’s) and popular locations like Ohana and Be Our Guest. Don’t let lack of availability worry you, since all Disney dining reservations require a credit card guarantee, cancellations do happen so persistence and patience are key! As we start the month in Spring Break, planning for the incredibly popular locations are often best for later in your trip to secure prime dinner times!

Cost

Disney’s Pop Century brings adults back to their childhood!

So how much will it cost a family of 4 to travel to Disney World in April of 2017? Let’s do the math. Remember these are NON-DISCOUNTED rates so your total could be less than the ones listed below. These travel dates fall under Spring Break as it’s a more popular time to travel.

The Smith family wants a fun an inexpensive vacation and are planning 7 days and 6 nights at a value resort. I suggested Pop Century in a preferred room since it’s most centrally located among the value resorts. They are taking mom, dad, Susie – 13 and Jenny – 9 on their first vacation! They have decided on 5 days of base tickets to really focus on one park each day and to save a little bit of money and will pay for meals out of pocket and bring some snacks with as well, so no dining plan. $2796.14

The Jones family wants a moderately priced vacation and are also planning 7 days and 6 nights, but they want to stay at a moderate resort. Their two daughters love Disney princesses so they are considering an upgrade to a royal guest room. They are also going to do 5 days of base tickets but are considering the upgrade to park hoppers to see more with their time. If the Jones family chooses the least expensive package options, their moderate vacation would cost them $3342.98. If they added park hoppers to their tickets, their vacation would cost them $3636.94. And if they wanted to upgrade to a royal room their vacation would cost them $33913.66

The Howell family wants to go all out for their two children’s first Disney World vacation and stay in a deluxe resort for 7 days and 6 nights. They definitely want park hoppers to see everything and they are considering the dining plan. Their preferred resort is Wilderness Lodge but with the construction scheduled, they are going to try out the recently renovated Polynesian resort to have access to Magic Kingdom. and Epcot. With 5 days of park hoppers, their vacation would cost them $6228.94. If they did elect to add the dining plan, their vacation would cost them $7586.20

The bottom line

April is a great time to travel to Disney World if your only options are school breaks whether you can’t pull your kids out of school or if you’re a teacher! If you’re looking for lower crowds after Spring Break season before the summer temps start to soar, the end of the month leading into May is one of my favorite times to travel! While the pricepoint is a bit higher in Spring Break Season than that of the the “off season” a family of 4 can have a magical Disney vacation. There is potential for some promotional offers (typical room discounts), so your family can still save a few dollars as well!

Ready to get started planning your 2017 Disney World vacation? Please contact me at any time for a free quote. The benefits to using an authorized Disney vacation planner include saving time before and during your vacation with itinerary planning which can help save you hours of standing in line each day. Plus you won’t have to watch for available discounts, research resorts, wake up early for dining reservations, or stay up late for FastPasses. The best part about using a travel planner instead of planning yourself? It’s totally FREE! Plus I’ll take away some of the stress and confusion of planning a Disney vacation (especially if it’s your first one!)It’s also a worry free vacation opportunity. I’ll walk through through all of the steps to the process with a few little insider tips along the way! If you already have your vacation planned and are interested in transferring your vacation, ask me how!